“blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 11:27-28.

“While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” Luke 11:27-28.

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There are those who think it is sufficient to show up at church occasionally and call themselves Christian. They may hear the word of God, but they do not meditate on it nor remember it. They certainly do not observe it.

There are others who take it a step further and go to church regularly and consider themselves part of the church family. They trust their connection, thinking that they are blessed just because they are part of the church family, in the sense that one of the women in today’s Scripture said to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.”

“But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

Jesus taught the sharp difference between the group who merely heard the word of God and the group who observed it in the Parable of the Sower. The group who merely heard the word of God are like those in the following verses.

“Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.” Luke 8:12-14.

But, the group who heard the word of God and observed it are like those in the following verse.

“But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.” Luke 8:15.

“So then, you will know them by their fruits.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’” Matthew 7:20-23.

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.” Psalm 1:1-3.